'
[432] See _ante_, iii. 242.
[433] This book has given rise to much enquiry, which has ended in
ludicrous surprise. Several ladies, wishing to learn the kind of reading
which the great and good Dr. Johnson esteemed most fit for a young
woman, desired to know what book he had selected for this Highland
nymph. 'They never adverted (said he) that I had no _choice_ in the
matter. I have said that I presented her with a book which I _happened_
to have about me.' And what was this book? My readers, prepare your
features for merriment. It was _Cocker's Arithmetick_!--Wherever this
was mentioned, there was a loud laugh, at which Johnson, when present,
used sometimes to be a little angry. One day, when we were dining at
General Oglethorpe's, where we had many a valuable day, I ventured to
interrogate him. 'But, Sir, is it not somewhat singular that you should
_happen_ to have _Cocker's Arithmetick_ about you on your journey? What
made you buy such a book at Inverness?' He gave me a very sufficient
answer. 'Why, Sir, if you are to have but one book with you upon a
journey, let it be a book of science. When you have read through a book
of entertainment, you know it, and it can do no more for you; but a book
of science is inexhaustible.' BOSWELL.
Johnson thus mentions his gift: 'I presented her with a book which I
happened to have about me, and should not be pleased to think that she
forgets me.
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